February 6, 2012

Music Monday: Unknown World

Dragon Quest (originally known as Dragon Warrior in North America), is one of the first RPGs I ever had contact with. I may have played the original Final Fantasy at around the same time, but its abstruse rules and systems proved too esoteric for a kid who was used to Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt. Dragon Quest introduced my tiny brain to the most basic of the basics, and held my hand the whole way: the game was a free bonus with a subscription to Nintendo Power magazine, and it came included with a full guidebook, dungeon and world maps, level chart, and bestiary, among other embellishments. Looking back, the game's setting was a laughably small world by today's standards, and the battle system was so shallow as to stamp out any depth of strategy. Still, at the time, it was accessible enough that it made me appreciate -- and completely buy into -- the epic, fantasy adventure it was trying to be.

True story: I was walking around the mall downtown once, and a random stranger started whistling the overworld theme to Dragon Quest. I was probably the only person around for miles who would have recognized the tune, but given that this would have been at least 10 or 15 years after the game came out, it seems I was not the only one this game made a lasting impression on.